In a world where actions still had consequences, things might be looking dire for Jr. right about now. After the NYT reported over the weekend that Donald Trump's namesake had met with a Russian attorney after his father won the Republican nomination, the paper followed up with a bombshell: He did so looking for dirt on Hillary Clinton that he knew might be coming from the Russian government. Predictably, Trump Jr. says there's nothing wrong with that. He's also lawyered up.

Important on this: Trump Jr. initially explained he'd spoken about adoptions with the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya. Here's why that's far less heartwarming than it sounds.